Residents of Seabury at Friendship Terrace enjoy affordable housing in the sought-after Tenleytown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Seabury Resources for Aging, which manages several housing communities as well as a D.C. senior wellness center, will celebrate its centennial with a gala next month. Founded in 1924, today the robust nonprofit helps nearly 10,000 older adults age with dignity. Photo courtesy of Seabury Resources for Aging

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One of the oldest nonprofits in the Washington, D.C. area has been helping older adults for 100 years. Seabury Resources for Aging, founded in 1924, will celebrate its centennial next month at a gala at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Seabury began with a small home for older adults: just four rooms in a house on Wisconsin Avenue in Northwest Washington. Its tradition of affordable senior housing continues today with three small group homes in Northeast Washington as well as two retirement communities: Seabury Friendship Terrace in Tenleytown and Seabury at Springvale Terrace in Silver Spring, Maryland.

“Our mission is to provide personalized, affordable services and housing options to help older adults in the greater Washington, D.C. area live with independence and dignity,” said Dawn M. Quattlebaum, chief executive officer of Seabury Resources for Aging.

Today, the nonprofit helps close to 10,000 older adults and caregivers in the area, providing not only housing but nutritious meals, yard work, cleaning, transportation to medical appointments and personalized care management.

Its care managers work with older adults’ neighbors, friends, family and clergy to help them age safely in their own neighborhoods.

History of Seabury

In 1923 several people in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington recognized the need to support elderly congregants. The following year a Washingtonian named Cornelia Jones donated her house on Wisconsin Avenue to the group, which named it the Episcopal Church Home, housing 31 people. By 1927 the group had acquired three more houses.

In its early years the group’s “board of lady managers” raised money with “teas, concerts, card parties [and] rummage sales,” according to a 1930 letter from board member Sally Fauntleroy Johnson. She and others kept the Episcopal Church Home going even during the Depression years.

“The foundations of the greatest success are laid not in days of universal prosperity, when anybody can succeed, but always in days of uncertainty and difficulty,” Johnson wrote.

In the 1950s the group, by then known as Episcopal Senior Ministries, acquired a Federal-style mansion in Georgetown from former board member Ella Sevier. Located on three acres on Q Street, the Episcopal Diocesan Home operated as a 39-unit retirement home until 1992. (The mansion’s upkeep proved too expensive.)

Meanwhile, in 1966 the organization purchased property in Tenleytown owned by the Brazilian Embassy. That property became what is now Seabury at Friendship Terrace, affordable housing apartments for 180 older adults.

Episcopal Senior Ministries rebranded itself in 2010, changing its name to Seabury Resources for Aging to “make all feel welcome to its home and services,” according to Seabury’s website. The nonprofit is named after the first Episcopal bishop, Samuel Seabury.

Support for older adults

Seabury’s mission aligns with Quattlebaum’s origin story. Her grandmother lived with her family when she was young, so she watched her family act as caregivers as her grandmother aged.

“I learned from my parents and from my grandmother how to age gracefully, how to age well — but also what is required in order to do that. You have that family and community support,” said Quattlebaum, who has worked at Seabury for 35 years.

One former D.C. councilmember, Elissa Silverman, said Seabury’s programs, particularly Care Management, which was established in the 1990s, have been critical for her family.

“My parents are in their 80s, and I feel clueless about how to tackle the difficult but necessary issues to discuss and face with them. I’m grateful for Seabury, and services like [their] Care Management, that help families navigate these challenging decisions we all have to make,” Silverman told Seabury.

A pioneer in D.C.

Seabury has added many programs throughout the years, working closely with city government even before the D.C. Office on Aging (now known as the Department of Aging and Community Living or DACL) was formed in 1975. Working with DACL today, Seabury is the lead service agency in Wards 5 and 6.

One of Seabury’s biggest impacts in Ward 5 is the Model Cities Senior Wellness Center, which Seabury manages. It’s a popular meeting place that offers a full schedule of classes and programs for people 60 and older, including tai chi, chair fitness, nutrition, Spanish, art, field trips to New York City and more.

One member of the Model Cities Senior Wellness Center, Delores Powers, said the center has been a vital part of her life since 2009. In fact, she now volunteers there five days a week.

“It’s just a great place to be. If my family’s looking for me, they know where to find me,” Powers said.

“It’s important in my life and everyone else’s lives because we have someplace to go during the daytime. We don’t have to sit at home and watch TV all day or babysit. We don’t have to sit at home and be isolated from what’s going on in the world. When we come to the center, we are connected to other people.”

What it’s like to live in a Seabury community

Seabury’s three housing communities — Home First Residences, Seabury at Friendship Terrace, and Seabury at Springvale Terrace — are well loved.

“At Friendship Terrace there is a sense of family,” said Portia Stewart, a resident of Friendship Terrace.

Buddy Moore, a resident of Friendship Terrace for the past five years, has found that to be true, too.

“It’s a very close group of individuals,” Moore said. “We have a mixture of nationalities here, and we all seem to get along quite well.”

There’s always an activity going on, said Moore, the former president of the resident association.

“We celebrate everything. You name it, and management celebrates it,” he said. “We have parties all the time. Generally we have a nice crowd no matter what.”

The Tenleytown location of Friendship Terrace is excellent, too, Moore said.

“Fortunately for us, we’re sort of away from the activity on Wisconsin Avenue. Even though we can walk to Target, CVS, places that we need to go, when we’re in our building, it’s very quiet here.”

Growing to help more people

Over the years, Seabury has paid attention to the needs of older adults in D.C. and has stepped up to help. For instance, Seabury volunteers provide transportation for older blind adults. Its Out and About program focuses on helping LGBTQ+ older adults in Wards 5 and 6 stay connected to their community. Seabury hopes to continue to grow in coming years.

“We’re looking forward to seeing can we expand some of these programs to other jurisdictions,” Quattlebaum said.

At the Gala for the Ages on May 16, Seabury will honor two centenarians, 100 and 104, as well as people in a Hall of Fame who helped expand the organization’s work.

Seabury’s leaders and volunteers will “highlight not only the past, but also let our community know our plans for the future 100 years,” Quattlebaum said. “We just don’t get to that milestone every day.”

For tickets, more information about Seabury’s programs or to volunteer, visit seaburyresources.org.